Report from Bret Bettison

As regular followers know, I frequently receive e-mails from folks who have come down to fish on the FRENZY. I received this e-mail from Bret Bettison who fished a couple of days with us mid March. I think it, and the accompanying photos speak for themselves!

"Jamie,

For the past 10 years my boys have watched me pack up and head to Quepos usually the week after the GIFT tournament. I would return with stories and pictures of the sportfishing action available there. Over the years my boys have become pretty decent fisherman along the Gulf Coast and began asking me when could they go to Costa Rica. My oldest son, Colton 17, is graduating from High School this year and as a graduation gift to him I thought they would really enjoy a trip to Quepos. My wife had never been herself so we planned to fill the time with some other activities as well. My youngest son, Carson 10, is ready for anything anytime.

Our flight out of Houston was great, No Delays !! I had decided to have a driver pick us up in San Jose and drive us to Quepos, Really is a nice drive and my wife and boys were able to see some of Costa Rica by car. We stayed at Si Como No, as you know this is a fine hotel and is hard to beat.

We were to fish on the Frenzy March 17 and 19, The first day the bite was a little slow but Jose and Marco managed to raise 4 sailfish, 3 were landed, Both boys got their 1st sailfish that day with Colton landing 2 and Carson landing one, refusing any help from his dad. The Frenzy is a fine boat, I had seen the boat last year for the 1st time and wanted to fish the boat the next time I was down.

March 18th we did the canopy tour in the morning, everyone should make plans on a canopy tour at least once. Late that afternoon we had a message that the Frenzy had an issue and would not be able to go out on the 19th, so we were rerouted to one of Jeanette's boats.

March 19th the boys had 6 more sailfish, with both of them releasing 3 each. I had decided before the trip that I was going along for the fun and to watch the boys and help them experience their 1st trip to Costa Rica, so I never touched a rod. I prefer light tackle and fly, now the boys are already trying to figure out how they can make another trip and land those Pacific sailfish on light tackle, I am sure I can make that happen again, as my wife fully enjoyed the trip and has already mentioned she is ready to go again !! Sounds like we will all be going again.

The food is always excellent, you have to at least make the El Gran Escape and El Avion, although I have not had a bad meal ever in Quepos.

Our return to San Jose was great and our flight back to Houston was On Time!!

We certianly look forward to fishing the Frenzy again.

What a great Spring Break the boys along with Mom and Dad had!!!!!

Thanks,
Bret"

Hey Bret thanks for the report and congrats to Colton and Carson on their fish. Nice photos too!

As we head towards the end of the school year and folks start to make their plans for the summer I always encourage people to come to Quepos. There is plenty to do and the fishing is still good through about the end of July when it starts to rain too much. Contact Willy for your reservations and come on down in the summertime as the FRENZY continues ...

Jamie

Spring Break FRENZY 2009 - Day Eight

Well it has been a fun week with the kids. As we expected they all had a great time in Costa Rica. As the blog posts reported, they got to do the canopy tour, catch sailfish and roosterfish on the FRENZY, ride jetskis, eat Lizbeth's fabulous guacamole, see boas, monkeys and parrots at the house and, most importantly, hang out in the pool and just chill! This week shows what Costa Rica is all about, having fun enjoying the beautiful country. Sure I go to pursue my favorite sport, fishing, but it sure is fun to spend a day doing a canopy tour with my family and friends. There are just so many fun things to do that you just can't do them all in a week.

The best thing about the week is that Jenny and I survived a week with 12 teenagers!

The fishing continues to be good in Quepos. We have a few open days in April so give Willy a call 'cause the FRENZY continues ...

Jamie
www.FrenzySportfishing.com

Spring Break FRENZY 2009 - Day Seven

I was greeted on the dock today by a fellow that heard we had a dozen teenagers at the house this week. He asked me if my hair had turned gray so I took off my hat! He said "Hmm!, Looks like they have turned a few hairs gray." I said "yes but not loose yet!"

Well it was back to the deep water, like 1500 feet deep, off the edge of the Furuno Bank chasing billfish today with Joseph and Bosie. Starting shallow we immediately picked up a pair of sails. Then we followed some rips out to 1500 feet where we saw a couple of free jumping sails but had not bites. There is still plenty of bait up on the Furuno so we headed back into shallower water (250 ft), caught some live bonito and slow trolled them for awhile. We caught another sail on the bonita then headed back in after another wonderful day offshore.

Now we're headed to Kapi Kapi for our last dinner together in Costa Rica!


Tomorrow we load up and head back to San Jose as our Spring Break FRENZY starts to wind down...

Jamie

Spring Break FRENZY 2009 - Day Six

It was a day of roosterfish again. This time I was out with Joseph and his crew of Bosie, Emily and Mary. The first hour we caught sardines for live bait then headed down to my favorite roosterfishing hole in Dominical. The tide was low, which I like for roosterfishing, and we were rewarded with 3 nice roosterfish by 10:30 am. Emily and Bosie caught their first roosters and Joseph caught one as well.


By 11 the girls were thinking about lunch by the pool so we took them back to Quepos and headed back out for a few hours around the rocks near Manuel Antonio. Bosie and I both caught nice roosters in the afternoon. For the day we released 6 and missed a few bites as well.


Tomorrow I am taking Joseph and Bosie back to the deep water to chase billfish while the girls go to the park to jet ski. All this as the Spring Break FRENZY continues ...!

Jamie

Spring Break FRENZY 2009 - Day Five

While I was down in Dominical today, a group of the girls went out for roosterfish. They caught and released 4 with the biggest one going an estimated 60, 70, 80 or 90 pounds, depending on who was doing the estimating! Regardless of the weight, it took the angler, Margaret Deans, 45 minutes to bring the fish to the boat. What a great fight she had.






Then there is the story of the 8 foot boa constrictor trying to eat our sorta pet iguana. Walter, our maintenance guy, came to the rescue and released the iguana from the boa's death grip. Jenny provided this photo.


And lastly we have all enjoyed our nights of eating out on the veranda! Lizbeth cooked a fabulous dinner for us which included chicken, black beans and rice, typical Costa Rican food and wonderfull!

Tomorrow Joseph's group is out again, this time for roosterfish as the Spring Break FRENZY continues ...

Jamie Walker

Spring Break FRENZY 2009 - Day Four

Joseph and his crew of three were rewarded for their early rising today with 5 sails. For Emily, Mary and Bosie they had a particularly fun day by catching their first sails. Joseph, an old hand now at catching billfish had a turn at the rod as well. For the rest of us who stayed at home today, we enjoyed another beautiful March day in Costa Rica. I had the opportunity to check out some solar panel / battery systems and rain water catchment systems. Here are some photos today from Mary's camera. Hope you enjoy them. With all that we're doing we find ourselves turning in early for the evening.

More tomorrow as the Spring Break FRENZY continues ...

Jamie

Spring Break FRENZY 2009 - Day Three

Yesterday I took Charlotte and three of her friends out on the Frenzy looking for billfish and some dorado for dinner. The dorado never showed but the girls caught 3 sails. Should have been more cause we raised about 10 and got 6 bites! Go figure. Although Charlotte has been fishing with me all her life, yesterday was the first day offshore for the other girls. They all enjoyed the thrill of catching their first billfish and are looking forward to their next day offshore.

Last night we all went to dinner at our favorite restaurant, El Gran Escape in downtown Quepos. We started off with calamari and sushi and went on from there. The food is always fabulous, the frozen margaritas always refreshing and the service couldn't be better. My pargo entero was "off the hook". We took some of Marsha's famous deserts back to the house where they were quickly consumed.

Today my son Jose and three of his friends are out there so we'll see what their report is when they return this afternoon. And now if I can get the girls up I'll see what they want to do today! Probably back down to the park for more trinkets and lunch. Whatever they decide I'm game 'cause everyday there is something to do here.

Stay tuned as the Spring Break FRENZY continues ...

Jamie